


I Didn't Think This Far Ahead

by iktwabrokenbone (apiculteur)



Category: Bandom, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Fluff, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Genderqueer Character, M/M, Makeup, hayley is amazing, josh is adorable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-16
Updated: 2014-08-16
Packaged: 2018-02-13 11:19:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2148762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apiculteur/pseuds/iktwabrokenbone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tyler realises he is nonbinary.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Didn't Think This Far Ahead

**Author's Note:**

> frankie youre projecting. but nonbinary tyler is damned cute so ill let myself off.
> 
> guys look an original title, which, okay, is maybe just me being annoyed that i can never come up with titles, but w/e, this will be my only 21p fic with an original title, so savour it.

For a long time, Tyler didn't give much thought to his gender. He was aware of what it meant to be cis and trans, within the gender binary, and for a while, he had thought he about the possibility that he was a girl, but that didn't feel like him. So he had resigned himself to being a boy, because what else could he be? If there was a niggling feeling in the back of his mind, a certain degree of discomfort, every time someone mentioned his gender, referred to him as a guy, he shrugged it off. It felt even more wrong, being called a girl, so all guys must feel the same way.

He let himself believe that for too long, really. It wasn't until he came across something about it on the internet, someone saying they were nonbinary, that he searched it up. It felt kinda insane, suddenly learning that he didn't only have two genders to choose from, and he could just settle with which felt less wrong, but he had an infinite amount. In spite of the new knowledge, it still didn't register that _he_ could choose a different gender, that these things applied to him, and not just strangers on the internet.

After that realisation, it didn't take long to realise he was nonbinary. Past that, it was kind of still confusing. Genderqueer seemed like the most accurate term, or agender, but he no longer cared about shoving labels onto himself, regardless of whether he felt comfortable in them. Tyler felt happy enough saying he was nonbinary and queer, and not letting the labels get any more specific than that.

He didn't think about it for a while- he was making a habit of not thinking very far into things- but there was the matter of pronouns. And 'he' still felt wrong, perhaps more so now that he knew he wasn't a boy. Whilst ze and thon were interesting ideas, they were a bit unusual, not something many people used. Maybe if he didn't have the media and the fanbase, he would use them, but he imagined explained he was nonbinary would be difficult enough without telling them to use pronouns they had never heard of before, so 'they' seemed the best choice.

And, oh, something that they hadn't taken into account was coming out. They had been all swooped up into their own little world, one in which they finally felt their self, and hadn't realised that they had been completely neglecting their friends, spending more time researching information about what it meant to be nonbinary, and finding out things about their self, than interacting with people. Which, really, was fine, apart from how they knew Josh would be freaking out, unsure whether he should talk to Tyler or let them choose when to talk about it.

Josh had always been the person Tyler had been most comfortable talking to, usually knew things about Tyler before they did, so it was strange having to tell him anything like this. They hadn't had to tell anyone when they realised they liked men, so it was really their first time coming out, unless you counted saying 'yes' when interviewers asked if they were gay.

That shouldn't have made much of a difference though, because they _knew_  that, even if Josh didn't understand at first, he would accept them. Tyler clenched their hands into fists, pulled at their hair, and wished they could stop over-reacting about this, _Josh won't mind_ , why did their stomach turn just thinking about it, about Josh hating them, even if, really, he never could?

It was a month before Tyler sat down next to Josh, fists balled tight, and said, "Hey." They had sort of hoped they would end up blurting it all out then and there, to get it over with.

"Hey, dude," Josh smiled at them, bright and genuine. He looked like he had missed out on a bit of sleep lately, no doubt due to Tyler's strange behaviour.

Their shoulders were touching, and the TV was on, so there was no pressure to talk. Tyler knew Josh would accept this as a sort of apology for not being around, and a promise they wouldn't do that again. They took a deep breath, counted to three, then said, "I'm nonbinary. I'm not a girl or a boy or anything." They said it very quickly, sounding panicked, and they knew Josh had sensed it was going to be something big before a word came out of their mouth.

"Cool," Josh said, still looking at the TV, and Tyler could see the smile on his face, warm and relieved. He turned his head, just slightly, to face Tyler. "Do you want me to use different pronouns?"

Tyler was surprised, hadn't known Josh knew about this kind of thing. "Yeah," they said, barely above a whipser. "Uh, they/them pronouns would be cool." Right now, they really wanted to hug Josh, because he was amazing, and reacted to everything Tyler said perfectly.

Josh lifted his arm, putting it around Tyler and pulling them closer, yet again knowing exactly what to do. Tyler smiled, and pressed a kiss against Josh's neck, and murmured, "Thanks."

"No problem, bro."

***

By now, Tyler was out to most of their friends, and they had all been amazing about it. After seeing their attempts to apply nail varnish and makeup, Hayley had told them to take it off- which, yeah, they'll admit, at first they thought she didn't like the whole gender neutral thing- and redid it for them, giving them tips on how to keep their hand steady, and do eyeliner well.

Josh grinned when Tyler walked onto the bus, lips and nails painted red. "You look beautiful," he said, completely sincere, then seemed to consider them for a second. "Y'know, I've been wondering about wearing makeup. Do you think I'd suit it?"

Tyler nodded. "You'd look sick as frick," they said, because he _would_.

"I _am_ sick as frick," he said, smiling.

When Tyler saw pinky-purple lipstick that perfectly matched Josh's hair, they didn't think twice before buying it. When Tyler gave Josh the lipstick, he blushed slightly before grabbing something from his bunk. He returned, holding out a Macy's bag, and not quite making eye contact.

Tyler took the bag from his hand, and looked inside. There was a black floral print skirt, covered in pretty pink roses, with green leaves mostly obscured by the blooms. When they put it on, it would probably come down to their ankles.

"You mentioned that you would like to wear a skirt, and I thought you'd suit this, but I can return it if you don't like it," Josh said, sounding apologetic, of all things.

"It's amazing, Josh," they said, grinning at him. As soon as he realised that Tyler approved, he returned the smile, eyes crinkling.

Before the show, Tyler changed into the skirt, and Josh put on the lipstick. If Tyler's lips ended up being pinky-purple despite not having put any lipstick on that day, well, no one would know. Besides, the crowd was too distracted by Tyler's skirt to notice, and with all that cheering and screaming, they doubted any of the fans there to notice still had the ability to say anything without causing severe pain in their throats. They had never felt happier, or more accepted, and they had to take a step back from the mic between songs, just so they could look at all these people who cared about them, who appreciated them. Tyler told the crowd they loved them, and they screamed back.

**Author's Note:**

> i may as well copy&paste (or, hey, not write) this last bit bc i almost always say the same thing, im a broken record, but w/e. thanks for reading. kudos and comments would be appreciated.


End file.
